The most useless ab exercise of all
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In keeping with the theme of useless exercises from the last blog post here’s what Jon Benson says about the most well known ab exercise of all:
The Sit-Up
I’m shocked that people still think sit-ups done the old-fashioned way actually work the abs.
Even worse, most people have been fooled into believing this actually helps get rid of bellyfat.
Nonsense. Bellyfat is burned off when you have a good nutrition plan and through general exercise, not using exercises for the abs.
Ab exercises are fine, but guess what?
I never train my abs more than 3-5 minutes.
Today my ab workout took 3 minutes and 12 seconds to complete.
And my abs are sore!
But without the nutrition plan, forget it… I’d never SEE my abs at all.
I’d just have a nice wall of muscle with a bunch of flab covering it up.
The best nutrition plan for abs is The Every Other Day Diet plan
The best exercises to do for the actual ab muscles are hanging leg raises, done slowly, crunches (if you do them right)… and that’s really all you need.
My Comments
Now I’m in agreement with Jon here as I think crunches and sit-ups are pretty useless.
I also can’t believe the mentality of thinking belly fat is lost when you train your abs.
I still get questions like this and realize that many people simply don’t understand fat loss.
As Jon says: Eat right using a sound approach like The Every Other Day Diet.
I happen to use a hybrid of his program these days where I eat lean meats and veggies for 2 days, raw food for 1 day and then a cheat day on day 4 (Anything Goes as its Party Time !)
I’m also big into finding quality sources of food through farm programs where I can get raw milk, cheese, grass fed meats etc…. at reasonable prices.
Currently I’m using the Traditional Nutrition Guild which has been a blessing for me here in New York City. They even deliver to Brooklyn!
And then of course you must have an overall fitness program aimed at building muscle, staying active ( I love walking) and maintaining a high level of fitness with interval type cardio training. My favorites are of course hills, stairs and playing 3 on 3 basketball.
Jon loves the hanging leg raise for training abs and while it is a great exercise I see way to many people perform it improperly.
I prefer the good ole ab wheel.
For 10-20 bucs you can’t beat this exercise and it is also very easy to modify.
Here’s a good demo from You Tube:
Post your comments below and let me know your favorite ab exercises even if you love sit-ups 
Remember: All that matters is what works for you
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When I do hanging leg (knee) raises from a bar, I don’t feel much if I only bring them waist high? If I try to bring them further, I have to curve my back, which is uncomfortable, but much harder on the abs. Best is to spread my knees and try to touch my elbows (called KTE or Knee To Elbow). I also do it this way on mini- parallel bars (parellettes) and feel it is more effective, even if I can’t get to my elbows.
Thanks for sharing Earnie. Getting the knees as high as you can is the way to go. I also spread my legs and get my knees to elbows.
I’m not much for crunches. Even done right. I do use them as a beginning exercise, but only to get people to a point where they can handle more productive exercises. Sit-ups on the other hand are awesome. For many reasons besides just working the ab area. There nothing wrong with something working more then one area. As a matter of fact the more muscle you can work the better your results. If you don’t think sit-ups work the stomach then take that 3 minutes you used to do your ab routine and do as many sit-ups as you can in the time period. Then tell me you didn’t work your abs.
Thanks again for your comments Earnie.
I would prefer not to do most exercises for 3 minutes and just add weight to build strength but I do see your point. While sit-ups do work your abdominals I think there are better choices.
But as I’ve said there are more than one way to get things done
I definitely agree that “the wheel” is one of the best overall ab exercises. A good modification is to use a swiss ball with your elbows on the ball. To make it more challenging you can elevate your feet on a bench, or you can place your feet on an additional swiss ball. Another great ab exercise is to lie on a decline bench and have your torso parallel with the floor, then take a medicine ball or weight plate and press it up and down (like a bench press) 15-20 times, keeping your torso stationary. Be sure to begin with a light weight. Technically the abs are stabilizing muscles and this is definitely good practice of stabilizing the abdominal muscles. I also like V-ups with a med ball, bringing the ball over your head when you come down.
Thanks for sharing Ken.
I like using the swiss ball as well.
I’ve never seen the decline bench ab idea. Sounds good. Do you have a video on that? I’d love to add it here.